Wire coiling apparatus



Feb. 26, 1963 H. L. HOLLINGSWORTH 3,079,103

WIRE COILING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 26, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I mmvrox 4 HEMQY L. HOLUNGSWOQTH 1 i a A f United States Patent Ofiice 3,679,193 Patented Feb. 26, 1963 3,079,103 WERE CGHLING APPARATUS Henry L. Hoiiingsworth, Fort Wayne, Ind, assignor to Phelps Dodge Copper Products Corporation, New York,

.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 26, 1960, Ser. No. 58,476 6 Claims. (Cl. 242-82) This invention relates to wire processing operations, such as the application of insulation coatings to bare wire, in which wire, withdrawn from a supply, is advanced through one or more processing steps and then suitably wound. The object of the invention is to obviate the need to stop the moving wire line upon depletion of the supply, by the provision of novel apparatus and methods for accumulating, from the supply, a wire reserve adequate to maintain delivery during replenishment of the pp y.

The conventional practice, upon depletion of the bare wire supply in a coating operation, of stopping the wire line, substituting a fresh supply, splicing it into the line, and restarting the line through the coater to a finishedwire spool involves faulty operation and breakage, high labor costs, and large scrap losses. Efforts to obviate this problem have not, so far as I am aware, afforded a commercially acceptable substitute for this practice.

I have discovered that during the withdrawal of bare wire as demanded by the coating and wind-up operation, a surplus of bare wire may also be withdrawn from the supply and temporarily stored in such a way as to afford a reserve supply which may be drawn on to accomplish a feed of the wire through the coater to the wind-up spool which is continuous and uninterrupted by exhaustion of the supply spool. By the present invention I have adapted that discovery to practical commercial use.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the bare wire supply and the coating, feeding, and coated wire wind-up elements of typical apparatus in which my invention may be incorporated;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view, partly in section, of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of a certain portion of my novel accumulator, illustrating one step in the operation;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 2, with parts omitted;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 55 of FIG. 2; 9

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section on the line 6--6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section on the line 7-7 of FIG. 2.

In the diagram of FIG. 1 typifying one environment in which my invention may be employed, 2 is a spool supplying bare wire 4 which passes over the coating applicators 6 and thence through -a drying oven 8. Conventional-ly the coating operation involves the successive application of a number of coatings, followed by return passes through the oven, as indicated by the further applicator 10 and the return rolls 12 and 14. On the last pass the coated wire, designated 16, is wound up at 18 which represents a shipping spool to be wound with a predetermined length or weight of finished coated wire. The elements of the apparatus designated so far may be conventional. At 20 I have indicated diagrammatically the accumulator provided by the present invention. In its preferred form, the details of its construction and mode of operation follow, together with a description of my novel method.

, The several elements of the accumulator 20 (FIG. 2) are supported on a stand comprising the base 22 and supporting post 24 (FIG. 4) on which the parts are adjust-ably mounted by a number of clamping rings to be referred to.

The drive is by a motor 26 clamped by a strap 28 bolted at 30 to a bar 32 which is flanged at 3'4 and. bolted at 36 to an angle iron 40. The angle iron 40 extends rearwardly to a clamping block 42 (FIG. 5) to which it is secured by bolts 44. The block 42 is formed with a circular hole 46 of a diameter slidably to receive the supporting post 24 to which it may be secured in vertically adjusted position by the thumb screw 48 passing through a screw-threaded hole in the block and bearing against the post. A complementary angle iron 50 is also bolted at 52 to the clamping block 42 and extends forwardly parallel with the angle iron 40.

The angle irons 40 and 50, at their forward extremities, afiord support for a bearing block 54 (FIG. 6) bolted at 56 to the angle iron 40 and at 58 to the angle iron 50.

The bearing block 54 has a circular opening for reception of an annular bearing 60, preferably of nylon, secured to the bearing block by upper screws 62 (FIG. 6) and lower screws 64 (FIG. 2). Rotatably mounted in bearing is the shaft 66-, flanged vat 68 at its lower end and protruding at its upper end above the bearing 60. A washer 61, friction fitted over the protruding end, is of a thickness equal to the length of the protrusion to afford flush surfaces for the support of a gear 70, secured to the shaft by screws 72. Gear 70'meshes with and is driven by pinion 73 formed on the end of shaft 74 of motor 26.

Mounted above and in vertical axial alignment with the gear 70 and shaft 66 is the drum 80. The side wall of the drum, flanged'at 82,-has a circular top cover plate 84, formed with an annular shoulder 86 which has a snug friction fit with the upper edge of the drum Wall.

The drum is rotatably mounted on post 88 by means of upper and lower bearings 90 and 92, the inner races of which are mounted on the post and the outer races of which are mounted respectively in upper and lower hearing retainers 94 and 96 secured to the drum wall to rotate therewith. The outer race of the upper bearing 90 is received in recesses 108 and 102 for-med respectively in the bearing retainer 94 and the closure plate 84. The inner race is engaged by washer 104 received over the extremity of the post 88 which is screw-threaded for reception of the locking nuts 196. The outer race of the lower bearing 92 is received in a recess 108 formed in the lower bearing retainer 96. The inner race is held in place by a head 110 formed on the post 88. The elements of the drum are secured together by screws passing freely through the aligned apertures in the cover plate 84 and bearing retainer 94 and being received in screw-threaded orifices in the bottom bearing retainer 96. The inner surface of the drum wall is recessed to form a lower shoulder 122 against which the upper retainer bears, and an upper shoulder 124 against which the lower retainer 96 bears when the screws are tightened.

The post 88 on which the drum 20 is rotatably mounted, is in turn supported by a bracket 126 having at one end a flange 128, apertured for passage of a screw 112, threaded into the post 88. A washer 131} is interposed between the lower surface of the flange and the screw head. 131. At its lower end the bracket 126 terminates in abase plate 132 (FIG. 5) resting on gear 70 and bolted to it at 134. As gear 70 rotates, bracket 126 and post 88- which it supports also rot-ate and yet the drum is not thereby driven because of bearings 90 and 92, by which the drum is freely rotatable with reference to the post. The bearing block 54 (FIG. 6), the bearing 6%, andthe shaft 66 are slotted vertically throughout their length as indicated at 14%, 142, and 144, respectively. The gear 70 is also slotted'from its periphery inwardly to a bore 141 as shown at 143 (FIG. 5). These slots may be aligned with each other as shown in F165. 6 and 7, to form a free passage from the outside of gear 76 and bearing block 54 to the bore 146 centrally of the shaft 66 and the aligned bore 141 of gear 76. The aligned position of these slots is sensed and temporarily held for threading purposes by pin 76 friction fitted into apertures in shaft 66 and bearing 60 which apertures are aligned when the slots are aligned.

The bare wire 4 introduced to the device from the bottom (FIG. 2) is guided through the apparatus by a number of sheaves, the relative positions of which determine the course of the wire. The wire passes first around sheave 150 on arm 152 connected to clamping ring 154 having thumb screw 158 (FIG. by which the sheave is clamped to the post 24 in adjusted position. Ring 154 also supports a second sheave 160 around which the bare wire 4, received from sheave 150, is trained, sheave 160 being positioned to deliver the wire vertically in a line coaxial with the bore of shaft 66.

As the accumulator is threaded, as will be described, the wire trained about the sheaves 15d and 160 is then passed through the aligned slots 143, 140, 142, and 144, gear 70 being stationary and pin 76 in place, so that the wire runs freely through the bore 146 of the shaft 66.

Upon leaving the upper end of shaft 66, the wire passes around a sheave 162 rotatably supported on a suitable flange upturned from the base 132 of the bracket 126 above described. From the sheave 162 the wire passes around a sheave 164 rotatably mounted on a bracket 166 protruding upwardly from a base plate 168 (FIG. 5) bolted to the gear 70 by bolts 170, 172 passing through the base plate 168 and through slots 174 and 176, respectively, which slots are elongated, as indicated, for adjustment of the position of the sheave 164 toward and away from sheave 162. The sheave 164 moves in a circular path about the axis of gear 70 as the gear rotates.

From the sheave 164 wire passes around a sheave 180 rotatably mounted on an arm 182 secured to a clamping ring 184 (FIG. 4) mounted on post 24 and secured in desired position vertically thereof by the thumb screw 186.

From sheave 180 the wire passes through a pigtail 19G (FIGS. 2 and 3) formed on the end of a wire 192 suitably secured to a clamping ring 194 on post 24 and having thumb screw 193. Thence the wire passes over a sheave 200 rota-tably mounted on an arm 202 (FIG. 4) secured to a clamping ring 294 which has a thumb screw 205 and which also carries a sheave 266 about which the wire is then trained, rotatably supported on an arm structure 208 fixed to the said clamping ring 204-.

In operation, the bare wire 4 is drawn from supply spool 2 (FIG. 1) through the accumulator 29 and back and forth through the oven by power supplied, in a manher not shown but which may be conventional, to the wind-up spool 18 and, if desired, to either or both of the return rolls 14 and 12. It is to be noted that with the motor 26 and gear 70 idle and with the accumulator threaded in the manner above described, the passage of wire from the supply spool 2 (FIG. 1) toward the coating applicator 6 and into the oven 8 is resisted only by the friction at the several sheaves and the pigtail 190, which is inconsequential. If desired, the wire may run that way prior to operation of the device for the purpose of accumulating wire preparatory to changing the bare wire supply spool. Alternatively, I prefer, however, to let the wire run free of the accumulator during the major portion of the operation and until near depletion of the bare wire supply at spool 2 and the device is constructed for ready threading with the wire in motion as it is running through the machine. Assuming that the wire instead of passing around the entering sheave 150 passes vertically through suitable guides and to the applicator 6, the accumulator may be threaded, when desired, using a conventional wire hook to train the running wire around the s eaves 150 and 160, through the aligned slots 140,

142, 143, and 144, around the upper sheaves 162, 164, and 131} through the pigtail 190 and sheaves 200 and 206.

To start the accumulating cycle after the device has been so threaded, pin 76 is removed and the motor 26 is started gradually, smoothly accelerating the gear 79 so that the sheave 164 carried on bracket 166 travels in its circular path circumferentially of the drum. The sheave 162 over which the wire is trained prior to reaching the sheave 164 is aligned to receive the wire coaxially of the shaft which is now rotating, and as the sheave 162 itself turns with the rotating gear, this vertical alignment is preserved. The sheave 136 is mounted in fixed position relative to the drum. Shcave 164 and sheave 180 are both disposed outwardly of vertical alignment with the drum wall, being disposed horizontally between the horizcntal planes of the upper and lower extremities of the drum with the fixed sheave 181 arranged higher than the movable sheave 164 so that the wire inclines as it passes from one to the other. As the sheave 164 rotates around the drum 80 in the direction indicated by arrows, it accordingly wraps wire around the periphery of the drum one convolution for each rotation of the gear 70 and sheave 164. The withdrawal of the wire around the sheave 180 and through the upper part of the apparatus by power rotation of the take-up spool 18 (FIG. 1) or of rolls 12 and 14 is not interfered with or in any way affected by this wrap-around operation as the drum 80' then is caused to rotate by the wire to supply the wire demand. The drum is at this time driven by the wire, idling on its bearings, as the wire wraps on from sheave 164, whatever its position (after the first convolution is laid down) and unwraps at sheave 180. The upward inclination of the wire from sheave 164 to sheave 180- facilitates wrapping the reserve wire in helical form as indicated at 2410a. The rate at which the wire is withdrawn from the bare spool during this accumulating cycle is equal to the rate of withdrawal of the wire from the machine at the take-up spool 18 plus the rate at which i the wire is wrapped about the periphery of the drum, the

latter being the rate of accumulation of the surplus reserve.

As the bare wire supply spool 2 nears depletion, the

A motor 26 is stopped and, by means of a wire hook, the

running wire is taken oil the sheave as shown in FIG. 3, so that wire runs directly from the reserve 200a by unwrapping from the drum over its upper end. The drum is now stationary and the demand of the machine is thus supplied by the wire that has been accumulated on the drum so that the lower entering end of bare wire remains stationary, thus permitting ready splicing in of a new supply of bare wire from a fresh spool. The withdrawal continues from the reserve until it has been used, when the wire will bedrawn from the fresh spool, either through the accumulator or outside of it, as explained above.

I claim: v

1. Apparatus for facilitating the replenishment of a wire supply as it is drawn off during a wire processing operation comprising, in combination, guide means comprising a leading guide and a trailing guide through which wire may be drawn at a predetermined rate, the same at both guides, means for increasing the rate at which wire is drawn through the trailing guide without altering the rate of draw through the leading guide and means for storing wire at a rate equal to said rate increase, said means comprising a receptacle about which wire may be wrapped and means for moving the trailing guide around the receptacle to effect the wrap, the receptacle being mounted for free rotation to facilitate unwrapping of the wire drawn through said leading guide as the wire is wrapped by the said movement of the trailing guide, the direction of movement of said trailing guide being contrary to the direction of rotation of the receptacle.

2. Apparatus for facilitating the replenishment of a wire supply as it is drawn off during a wire processing operation comprising, in combination, a drum, a first Wire guide and a second wire guide both positioned in proximity to the drum, outwardly of the drum wall and between planes perpendicular to the drum axis at opposite ends of the drum to guide wire from the first guide, around the drum and to the second guide, the drum being mounted for idle rotation driven by the wire as the wire is advanced by simultaneously being drawn off the drum at the second guide as it is wrapped onto the drum at the first guide so that the linear speed of rotation of the drum and advance of the wire at said second guide are the same, and means for moving the first guide in a path circurnferentially of the drum in a direction oppososite to the direction of said rotation of the drum whereby a length of wire equal to one convolution is stored on the drum each time the said first guide traverses said circumferential path.

3. Apparatus for facilitating the replenishment of a wire supply as it is drawn oit' during a wire processing operation comprising, in combination, a drum, a first wire guide and a second wire guide both positioned in proximity to the drum, outwardly of the drum wall and between planes perpendicular to the drum axis at opposite ends of the drum to guide wire from the first guide, around the drum and to the second guide, the drum being mounted for idle rotation driven by the wire as the wire is advanced by simultaneously being drawn oh the drum at the second guide as it is wrapped onto the drum at the first guide so that the linear speed of rotation of the drum and advance of the wire at said first and second guides are the same, and means for moving the first guide in a path circumferentially of the drum in a direction opposite to the direction of said rotation of the drum whereby a length of wire equal to one convolution is stored on the drum each time the said first guide traverses said circumferential path, means for directing the wire from the supply to said first guide through one of said planes, the said first guide being mounted in closer proximity to said one of said planes than the second guide so that the wire runs at an inclination between said guides thereby wrapping successive convolutions in heical form.

4. In an accumulator for storing wire running from a supply to a processing operation, the combination comprising a rotatably mounted wire storage drum, a plurality of guides for directing the travel of wire in proximity to the drum including a pair of guides disposed radially of the drum, one guide or" the pair being fixedly mounted and the other being mounted to rotate in an arc circumscribing the drum to wrap the drum with wire extending between said guides, a third guide disposed in proximity to one end of the drum to guide wire from the supply to said rotatable guide, the guides of the pair being in different planes perpendicular to the axis of the drum with the plane of the rotatable guide disposed a shorter distance from the third guide than the distance between the plane of the fixed guide and said third guide so that the wire extends at an inclination between the two guides to facilitate the laying of successive convolutions during such wrapping, and a fourth guide mounted at the end of the drum opposite said third guide in position to receive wire from said fixed guide of the pair whereby when the wire is freed of said fixed guide and the movable guide is stopped, the wire may be unwrapped from the drum by being drawn through said fourth guide over the drum end while the drum and the wire passing through said third guide remain stationary to facilitate splicing of a fresh supply.

5 Apparatus for continuously transporting wire lengthwise comprising, in combination, a wire supply spool, a driven take-up spool for drawing wire from the supply spool through a path between the spools, a pair of Wire guides engageable with the wire in said path and from one to the other of which the wire is adapted to be drawn by the take-up spool through a course of predetermined length in said path, a drum disposed in proximity to said course, means for moving one of the guides relative to the other through a path circumferentially of the drum to wrap wire around the drum as the wire is drawn through said path, thereby increasing the length of said course and accumulating a wire reserve wrapped around the drum, and means rnountim said drum for free rotation to facilitate withdrawing of wire from the drum by the takeup spool as the wire is wrapped around the drum by said movement of one guide relative to the other.

6. Apparatus for facilitating the replenishment of a wire supply as it is drawn ofi during a wire processing operation comprising, in combination, guide means comprising a leading guide and a trailing guide through which wire may be drawn at a predetermined rate, the same at both guides, means for increasing the rate at which wire is drawn through the trailing guide without altering the rate of draw through the leading guide and means for storing wire at a rate equal to said rate increase, said means comprising a receptacle about which wire may be wrapped and means for moving one of said guides relative to the other guide around the receptacle to effect the wrap, the receptacle being mounted for free rotation to facilitate unwrapping of the wire drawn through said leading guide as the wire is wrapped by the said movement of said one guide, the direction of movement of said one guide being contrary to the direction of rotation of the receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE REPLENISHMENT OF A WIRE SUPPLY AS IT IS DRAWN OFF DURING A WIRE PROCESSING OPERATION COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, GUIDE MEANS COMPRISING A LEADING GUIDE AND A TRAILING GUIDE THROUGH WHICH WIRE MAY BE DRAWN AT A PREDETERMINED RATE, THE SAME AT BOTH GUIDES, MEANS FOR INCREASING THE RATE AT WHICH WIRE IS DRAWN THROUGH THE LEADING GUIDE AND MEANS FOR STORING WIRE AT A RATE EQUAL TO SAID RATE INCREASE, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A RECEPTACLE ABOUT WHICH WIRE MAY BE WRAPPED AND MEANS FOR MOVING THE TRAILING GUIDE AROUND THE RECEPTACLE TO EFFECT THE WRAP, THE RECEPTACLE BEING MOUNTED FOR FREE ROTATION TO FACILITATE UNWRAPPING OF THE WIRE DRAWN THROUGH SAID LEADING GUIDE AS THE WIRE IS WRAPPED BY THE SAID MOVEMENT OF THE TRAILING GUIDE, THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID TRAILING GUIDE BEING CONTRARY TO THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF THE RECEPTACLE. 